As
season-ticket sales decline, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra is
looking for ways to reach new audiences. This year's season has
emphasized collaboration with local arts organizations, and nowhere
is this more apparent than in this weekend's performance with
Ballet Quad Cities.

The
organizations are pairing up for the first time, in a program
celebrating dance. The symphony will perform Weber's Invitation
to the Dance and
Tchaikovsky's Suite from Swan
Lake on the Adler Theatre
stage, then move to the orchestra pit at intermission, making room
for the dancers on stage for Bach's Suite
No. 1 in C Major and
Stravinsky's Danses
Concertantes.

Performances
are 8 p.m. Saturday, March 3, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 4.

This
particular collaboration is just one concert from an entire season of
"concerts that acknowledge and celebrate the richness of our sister
arts organizations," said symphony Executive Director Lance
Willett.

"We
benefit from being in a community and an environment with so many
high-quality arts organizations that we felt it was appropriate and
timely for us to integrate those organizations to the extent we could
into our actual programming," Willett said.

Other
collaborations have been less direct. Instead of performing with the
symphony, as Ballet Quad Cities is doing this weekend and Opera Quad
Cities will do in April, other arts organizations were honored in the
programming, Willett said.

The
November concert celebrating theatre featured pieces with theatrical
themes. And while none of the local theatre organizations performed
on-stage, members of the Genesis Guild were there in Greek costume.

The
collaborations "demonstrate in a very public way the strength of
the arts community and the way in which the arts community here can
enrich itself here by joining together," Willett said.

Another
benefit to the collaborations is the opportunity to reach new
audiences, especially when organizations are pairing up for the first
time.

"This
is definitely a way to get people in our audience who haven't
experienced the ballet, and people in the ballet audience who haven't
come to the symphony concerts, to see what they've been missing and
bridge those gaps a little bit," said Jared Johnson, the symphony's
director of marketing.

Joedy
Cook, Ballet Quad Cities' executive director, also identified
shared audiences as a major benefit to collaborations. "There are
still many people in the region not familiar with Ballet Quad
Cities," Cook said. "It's wonderful to be able to share other
arts organizations' audiences, and we of course will help them
bring in a new audience, so it's just a win-win."

The
symphony is making a push to reach new, and often younger, audiences.
"What you're really seeing is a shift from season-ticket sales to
single-ticket sales," Johnson said, "and I think to a certain
extent that's indicative of that shift of people not wanting to
commit to going out that many times and people making decisions at
the last minute."

Johnson
said he doesn't consider this shift a problem, but it does require
a different approach.

"When
you sell a package, you sell a whole season in one swoop," he said.
"But with single-ticket sales, you have to try and get the ticket
sale every time. It's a different battle, and organizationally
we're starting to get a grasp on what we'll have to do to make
this work. It is a big shift and a challenge for us."

The
symphony already has several successful adult-education programs that
tend to attract season-ticket holders, who are usually over 55.
"Concert Conversations" is held before each concert, while
"Inside the Music" is several days before the concert, usually at
St. Ambrose University. Each event is a discussion of the music on
the program with Conductor Donald Schleicher and a guest.

One
recent event aimed at younger, single-ticket buyers was "A Taste of
Beethoven" at Borders Books Music Movies & Cafe. A string
quartet performed works by the composer, and Kai Swanson gave a
history lesson about him between the pieces. This event attracted, in
particular, young families, Johnson said. "We had kids sitting in
the front row next to the string quartet watching them play ...
getting to see it and getting really close to the music," he said.

With
these events, the symphony wants to remind people that they do
enjoy classical music, Johnson said. "You know this music," he
said. "You've heard it in 100 different places and you like
it."

"Inside
the Music" for this weekend's concerts is March 1 at 5:30 p.m.
with Schleicher and choreographers Matthew Keefe and Deanna Carter at
The Outing Club in Davenport. "Concert Conversations" with
Schleicher, Keefe, Carter, and Swanson is an hour before each concert
at the Adler Theatre.

Immediately
following each concert will be a "sneak peak" at the repertoire
and guest soloists for next season. The names of the five candidates
for symphony conductor will also be revealed.